


And We'll Be Running

by Ameliapll



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Major Character Injury, Oh Hartley, cuteness, major angst, pain and suffering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 06:08:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12126210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ameliapll/pseuds/Ameliapll
Summary: It takes Hartley Rathaway two weeks to fall for Axel Walker. It takes Axel even less time.





	And We'll Be Running

Axel Walker is a bright ball of sunshine, concealing lightning storms and tsunamis and earthquakes and he is fascinated by Hartley Rathaway.

 

Hartley's not quite sure why, but he finds himself getting The Feelings for Axel Walker, who is gorgeous and sexy and as intelligent as Hartley is, and who flirts with him the way he hasn't allowed himself to be flirted with, not since Wells. 

 

It takes another two weeks for Axel and Hartley to sleep together, little praising whispers quietly telling Hartley how  _beautiful he is,_ how he deserves the best.

 

Hartley can't quite tell Axel that he's  _lying,_ that Hartley  _doesn't deserve anything_  because he's  _disgusting_ and  _arrogant_ and  _rude._

 

The next morning, Axel is still there, and he runs a finger down the side of Hartley's face when he thinks the Piper is still sleeping. 

 

 

Hartley smiles genuinely and buries his face into Axel's chest because the sun is  _too bright_  and he forgets to act like a dick when he just wakes up and he's still sleepy. He can feel Axel's chest move as he laughs, and doesn't complain because Axel's arms are moving to hold Hartley closer and it is making Hartley feel all warm and fuzzy. 

 

Axel's fingers comb through Hartley's hair and Hartley goes back to sleep. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A bored Axel is a dangerous Axel and that is how Hartley finds himself pouting, Axel holding the book he was reading above his head.

"Cmon, Pipesqueak," Axel said with a positively devilish grin on his lips and Hartley  _just then_ remembers that he is dating someone who runs around in ridiculous patterns and calls himself the Trickster, and that his boyfriend is four inches taller than him. 

"If you can reach it, y'can read it," Hartley scowled at Axel, and stood on his toes to reach it. No avail. He sighed, swallowing his pride, and jumped up, only to fall into Axel, sending them both falling to the ground. Within seconds, Axel had managed to flip their positions so Hartley lay, back pressed against the ground. Axel looked at him with  something resembling awe.

"Shit, you're pretty, Hart," he whispers, too close to Hartley's lips and Hartley finds him letting out an embarrassing whine, trying to get closer to Axel's lips. "So, so, pretty," Axel says even quieter, leaning down and pressing his lips to Hartley's. Hartley closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss, letting out a little gasp as Axel gently bit down on his lip, his hands moving to the sides of Hartley's head. And then...

 

"Thanks, Pipes," Axel said with a giggle, pushing off Hartley. Hartley blinked, his vision blurring.

"Did you just steal my glasses?"

 

"Rule number one of the Rogues, darling," Axel says coyly, twirling Hartley's glasses around his finger. "Prepare for the unexpected,"

 

"You stole my fucking glasses!"

"And you stole my shirt. Besides, you're not gonna need  _either_ of them for what happens next," Axel says and as soon as the words kick in, Hartley is pushing himself off the ground and chasing after Axel with a laugh he thought he'd never let out again.

Yeah, this was good. Hartley definitely doesn't regret anything.

 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They end up moving in together by the end of the month, realising that Hartley spends more time at Axel's apartment than his own.

 

"Well, hey there," Axel  _purrs_ and fuck if it isn't the most attractive noise Hartley has ever heard. "Anyone ever told you that you're under arrest?"

 

 

"What? Why?" Hartley asks, flipping around with furrowed brows. Axel grins lewdly, his arms slipping lower than Hartley's waist. 

 

"Cause you stole my heart, Pipes" Axel says with a wink and when Hartley opens his mouth to tell him exactly what he thinks of that, Axel kisses him, and lightly twirls him till he's leaning against the windows. Hartley's arms come up to cling at Axel's shoulders and he whispers how much he loves Axel.

And tries not to smile when Axel whispers it back against Hartley's lips.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's perfect until James Jesse returns and Axel finds himself spending less time with Hartley, sees the barely concealed flashes of hurt in Hartley's eyes when Axel spends all night with his dad, working on a heist. 

 

The way Hartley says  _don't worry about it_ when Axel spent their one-year anniversary with James Jesse, working on a heist and completely forgot to even talk to his boyfriend. 

The worst part? When Hartley tries to confront him about it, asking why Axel prefers to be spending time with a psychotic terrorist instead of him, with venomous eyes and Axel snaps.

 

"What, Hart?" he says with a snicker that comes out cold even for him, "Jealous that my father actually loves me, no matter what? Because I thought you'd said you'd made up with your folks, and where are they? Haven't even spoken to you in a month."

 

He stops when he sees Hartley pull his lower lip in, taking a step back.

 

"Hart?" Axel says near silently and Hartley shakes his head. When Axel steps forwards, to put a hand on Hartley's arm and calm him down, Hartley flinches back, looking up at Axel with wide, wide eyes and Axel thinks that maybe if he slapped Hartley, it would make him hurt less. 

 

The house is too quiet that night, the bed too large for Axel alone, and he misses the quiet comfort of Hartley's hair brushing against his arm. The next day, Hartley is back, all  _I know you didn't mean it, sorry for overreacting._

 

It occurs to Axel how Hartley probably spoke to Wells in the same way and wants to throw up and maybe die in a hole.  He doesn't and that night they don't  ~~sleep together~~  fuck and he lies awake, watching the moon cast shadows on Hartley's face. 

 

"Do you even still want to be with me?" Hartley whispers when he thinks Axel is asleep and Axel doesn't reply, and by the next night, Hartley has left, like he wasn't even there, not at all. He doesn't come back the next day. Or the day after that. 

 

Axel giggles til his vision blurs, clinging to the only thing Hartley left: The hoodie Axel once bought him cause it made his eyes brighter. 

 

 

He wonders how long Hartley had been like that hoodie: alone in an empty house, waiting to be loved. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Axel doesn't hear from Hartley for a week, and then his phone rings. 

 

"Hello, is this Axel Walker? We have a Hartley Rathaway in Central City Private, and you were his emergency contact," the unfamiliar yet too cheerful voice says. 

 

"What seems to be the problem?" Axel asks, trying not to sound like the floor has been ripped out from under him. It's important that he stays contained in public. 

 

The woman's voice is sympathetic. "We're not sure. All we know is that he's in critical condition, and that he's asking for you." 

 

"Shit, fuck, okay. I'll be there soon," Axel whispers and hangs up, putting on Hartley's hoodie and sprinting out the door.

\------------------------------------

"Are you Axel Walker?" a nurse asks. Axel nods, and she smiles letting him in.

 

He hates hospitals and he hates that Hartley is in a hospital and he hates the smell of bleach and the constant bleeping and how so so so so so so small Hartley is in the bed, attached to wire and machine like a puppet on strings.

 

"Do you know..."

 

"At this stage, he may live," the woman whispers, casting a look at Hartley. "But the stab wound was severe enough that he needed surgery immediately,"

 

"Stab wound?" Axel asks, and his stomach coils and he imagines someone staring Hartley in the eyes as they stab him, watching blood puddle around his torso and watching him fall to the ground before stepping over the body and leaving him to die, alone and scared. Blood rushes in his ears and for a minute, he can't hear anything but his own anger. 

 

"Yes. Unfortunately, I can confirm that Hartley was stabbed, but he is awake now, and the surgery was successful." The woman says as though that's a good thing. 

 

"Can I...can I see him?" Axel whispers, and his voice is raw and it kind of hurts to talk. 

 

"Of course," the woman nods and Axel sanitises his hands and enters the room.

 

 

Axel sits in the chair next to Hartley's bed, reaching out and tangling his fingers with Hartley's own. They're too cold, and Axel wants to wrap Hartley into his arms until he is warm again.

 

He closes his eyes and focusses on transferring his warmth to Hartley's body. 

 

"Axe?" Hartley whispers and Axel's eyes snap open. 

 

"Fuck, Hart. Oh my...shit,"

 

"You...I didn't think you'd come," And Axel gets a really sinking feeling in his chest. 

 

"Hart, please tell me you weren't asking for me because you thought I wouldn't come." Axel begs, feeling kinda desperate for Hartley to deny this claim.

 

Hartley doesn't-can't-reply, and instead lets out a pitiful whimper, like a kicked puppy. 

 

"What makes you think I wouldn't come?" Axel asks, trying to keep calm. It's  _imperative_ that he doesn't distress Hartley, not now. 

 

"Axel, cmon, you haven't cared about me since James Jesse came to town. Is it so unreasonable to believe you wouldn't come?"

 

"Hartley, I came here because I love you, okay?" Axel said, gripping Hartley's hands. "Not because anyone  _told me to._ "

 

"Do you, though, Axel?" Hartley whispers and Axel pushes away from Hartley, leaving the room to catch his air and get breath in his lungs.

 

He pretends not to hear the muffled sobs that mark his exit.

\----------------

He doesn't expect to hear the curtains swing open again.

 

"Thought you'd left," Hartley says icily, trying to hide his eyes from Axel. He may have been stabbed by some of his friends (Read: rich socialites he was forced to spend time with and who stabbed him for no reason other than Hartley is gay)

 

He lets out a squeak when Axel leans down and kisses him, coffee flavoured lips delicately pressed against Hartley's own, one hand coming up to touch Hartley's face.

 

"When I heard...I felt, shit, Hart, I wanted to kill whoever did this to you, still do, but you don't need that right now," Axel inhales. "Took me a while to realise it, but I do need you,"

 

 

"Y'know, I kind of missed you too for a brief five minutes," Hartley says casually. "Even though you  _are_ a total dick,"

 

"Nah, that's your role, Pipes," Axel grins back and they're not fixed, far from it, but Axel leans down and kisses Hartley's forehead and it feels like maybe they could start anew.

 

"Hey, Axe," Hartley says as Axel moves back up. "Wanna lie down for a while? I'm too...stabbed for sex, but..."

 

Axel smiles and lies down with Hartley.

 

"Just so you're clear," Hartley whispers close to Axel's ear. "If you so much as brush my stab wound, I will dump you again. It  _hurts_ ," 

 

"Got it, Hart," Axel whispers back, giggles, and moves one arm till it's circled round Hartley and Hartley smiles, allowing himself to enjoy the silence.

\--------------------------

_Three months later._

 

  


 

"What are they  _doing?_ " Cisco squeaks, pointing at Axel and Hartley. Team Flash has joined forces with the Rogues to stop a common foe, and Hartley is sitting on Axel's lap, leaning against his chest, wearing one of Axel's shirts.

 

He's pretty sure he looks ridiculous and he's pretty sure he doesn't care.

 

"Why,  _Cisquito,_ " Hartley smirks, noting the way Axel bristles behind him. "Didn't take you for the type to get upset if I was to have a little PDA with my boyfriend,"

 

"Your...Axel Walker is your boyfriend?" Cisco cries. "Hartley, why?"

 

"Why wouldn't he date me?" Axel grins. "I'm awesome, you know,"

 

Hartley knows Axel knows about his and Cisco's fling, which is why it is literally no surprise when Axel pulls him in for a kiss, and Hartley can tell he stares at Cisco the whole time. 

 

"Axel. Hartley." Len warns, but there is amusement to his voice.

 

"They're just jealous of our love, Hart," Axel says and traces love notes he will never say onto Hartley's thigh. The piper sighs, content, and smiles.

 

Hartley thinks that maybe he should regret Axel Walker. But something in him doesn't. 

 

 

For, no matter how many times he and Axel hate each other, they will always come back to the other. 

 


End file.
